Shloime Goldstein pays $30M to Excel Development Group for dev site in Hell’s Kitchen

Shloime Goldstein through the entity 539 West 54 LLC paid $30 million to Excel Development Group through the entity 539 West 54th Street LLC for the development site (V1) at 539 West 54th Street in Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan. The expected use is ground up development.

On the lot, there is one active new building construction project, M00856242, for a 71-unit, 81,503 square-foot residential (R-2) building. The project was submitted by Excel Development Group and filed by Michael Heletz with plans filed May 2, 2023 and it has not been permitted yet.
The deal closed on January 16, 2026 and was recorded on February 5, 2026. The property has zero square feet of built space and 75,563 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 75,563 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per buildable square foot is $397 per the PincusCo analysis. (The price per square foot analysis is the transaction price divided by square feet as reported in public records and assumes no air rights have been sold.)
The seller bought the property on December 28, 2021, for $25 million. The signatory for Excel Development Group was Mikhael Heletz . The signatory for Shloime Goldstein was Shloime Goldstein. The contract date was November 24, 2025.

Prior sales, articles and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has records that the buyer Shloime Goldstein purchased five properties in one transaction for a total of $11 million and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Excel Development Group had not purchased any other properties and had not sold any properties over the same time period.

The property

The parcel has frontage of 125 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 12,552 square feet. The zoning is R8 which allows for up to 6.02 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $3.8 million.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property for the past 24 months. In addition, according to city public data, the property has received $25,750 in ECB penalties in the last year.

The neighborhood

In Hell’s Kitchen, The bulk, or 39 percent of the 40.8 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 18 percent of the space. In sales, Hell’s Kitchen has 3.4 times the average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $1.1 billion in sales volume in the last two years and is the 10th highest in Manhattan. For development, Hell’s Kitchen has 1.7 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 15th highest in Manhattan. It had 2.7 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 7 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of three of the seven commercial properties representing 653,979 square feet of the 937,024 square feet. The largest owner is New York City Housing Authority, followed by Clinton Association For A Renewed Environment and then Excel Development Group.
On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 81,503 square feet. It is a 71-unit, 81,503 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Excel Development Group and filed by Michael Heletz with plans filed May 2, 2023 and it has not been permitted yet.

The majority, or 93 percent of the 937,024 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 7 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Excel Development Group owned at least three commercial properties with 41 residential units in New York City with 44,815 square feet and a city-determined market value of $13.2 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $33.1 million in debt, borrowed from Bank Leumi and Netanel Group. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 67 percent of the 44,815 square feet of built space are specialty properties, with walkup properties next occupying 33 percent of the space. They are all located in Manhattan.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Shloime Goldstein owned at least nine commercial properties with 187 residential units in New York City with 138,005 square feet and a city-determined market value of $8.1 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $78.6 million in debt, with top three lenders as Ponce Bank, NorthEast Community Bank, and Valley National Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 85 percent of the 138,005 square feet of built space are elevator properties, with D9 properties next occupying 10 percent of the space. The bulk, or 95 percent of the built space, is in Bronx, with Brooklyn next at 5 percent of the space.

Direct link to Acris document. link